The Pressure Washers meant it for Evil but God meant it for Good

For the last several weeks, a pair of barn swallows have been tirelessly building a mud nest on one of the fire sprinklers in the breezeway outside my door. Over the days Craig and I have watched that nest build a little at a time as these tiny birds bring tiny bits of mud and twigs and make their nest. Last week for several days the female was nesting, resting quietly in her work and I suppose waiting for the next step.

Last Friday the building was pressure washed and the nest was cruelly sprayed away in a matter of seconds. I watched the pair fly around the site and through the breezeway for a few days searching desperately for their nest. They seemed confused and I was certain that in a few days they would be gone. I wondered whether they missed the window of opportunity to mate and lay eggs. After all, this all seems to be a delicate process easily thrown out of balance.

Within a day those two little birds began again. From the first little blob of mud, they started over doing what they were made to do. The Lord put in them the desire to build a nest and the ability to do it, yet when all their hard work literally turned to a mud puddle, they began again.

I often feel confused after a seeming failure and I am tempted to give up completely. Even to doubt my call. But I know what the Lord has made me to do, what He has taught me to do and what He has called me to do. And when it appears to my eyes like all has been for nothing, I must start again, and again. I know this lesson is for me....God help me to remember it when the pressure washers show up.